


Feline Lazy Today

by alateni



Series: Cat in a Box [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 96 line as caaaaats, Gen, aka what i want to do, gyu doesn't even physically appear, gyuhao are established but it's mostly just hao laying around and appreciating cats, so its not like focused on relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 17:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15053981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alateni/pseuds/alateni
Summary: Minghao wakes up, simultaneously does nothing and saves half of his cats lives, all in one morning.





	Feline Lazy Today

Minghao opens his eyes, feeling a weight on his chest. He groans, wanting to roll over, but a pressure stops him from moving. Sighing, Minghao manages to look down. As if sensing he was awake, June creeps closer. His whiskers barely tickle Minghao’s cheeks, but it still makes the human laugh. Yawning, Minghao untangles one arm from the blanket and pats June’s head affectionately. The cat decides he likes this and snuggles even closer – to the point where Minghao is almost suffocating. There is too much cat, Minghao decides, but lets June be.

“What time is it?” Minghao asks. June’s ears twitch in response. “You don’t know?” Minghao nuzzles his nose into June’s fur. “I thought you knew everything honey.” June doesn’t reply. Leaning back, Minghao looks over to the clock on the dresser. Just short of 10 AM. That’s fine, Minghao didn’t usually sleep in that late on his days off anyways. Besides, getting woken up by means of cat is as good a way as any.

“Looks like it’s time to get up baby,” Minghao tells June. June protests by laying down. He kneads his paws into the blanket, _purring_ softly to show just how much he opposes Minghao’s suggestion. “Okay, okay,” Minghao replies, always weak for June. He was the first cat Minghao adopted after all. Hoshi and Woozi came after, a set from the adoption agency that were always curled up beside each other. Minghao didn’t have the heart to separate them. And finally, Nonu. Mingyu found him actually, hiding behind the trash collector at their apartment complex. A stray, one that was probably missing for so long that he learned how to survive on his own. They hadn’t meant to adopt Nonu, not with three cats already, but Mingyu started bringing him food every day and well, one day he managed to slip in.

“You know, if I don’t wake up, you also don’t get fed,” Minghao pokes June’s nose. June licks his finger. “Unless Gyu fed you before he left,” Minghao thinks, “that would make more sense. Guess I’m really going to be held hostage in return for pets huh?” June’s eyes seem to agree. Laughing gently, Minghao pets June for a little while longer before grabbing his phone. Shuffling onto his side, Minghao manages to wrangle June into sitting on the bed instead of his chest and curls around him. Continuing the petting, Minghao scrolls through his phone at the same time – checking various messages and medias.

The lazing goes on for another hour, and it isn’t until Minghao’s stomach growls that he realizes he needs to get up and consume food. Maybe do something productive – be a functional human being. June is fast asleep at this point, rumbling gently every time Minghao shifts. Looking down at the slumbering cat, Minghao takes a deep breath, steels his heart, and lurches off the bed in one elegant swoop. The movement causes minimal jostling to June, so the feline remains asleep, curled up in the middle of a blanket – with a Minghao shaped imprint around him.

Sighing in relief, Minghao quickly moves out of the room before he could wake June up. The minute he leaves the room, he’s met with a disgruntled Woozi. The small, miniature cat looks up at him, huffing silently, before padding away. Wondering what he did wrong, Minghao follows – from a safe distance – until he finds the cause of Woozi’s displeasure.

Woozi glares, sitting a safe distance away, at his – their – litter box. Even Minghao wrinkles his nose at the smell, not sure how he couldn’t smell it before. Walking closer, he spies a fallen piece of paper. He picks it up, smoothening out the creases from where one of their cats stepped on it, and reads it aloud.

“I know it’s my turn to change the litter but I was running late this morning because Woozi wouldn’t eat his food again so sorry!!! Please change it I’ll do it three weeks in a row next time!” Minghao chuckles, crumbling up the paper and leaving it on the kitchen counter. Crouching down, Minghao lets Woozi sniff at one of his fingers, licking it gently. Patting the cat on the head, Minghao coos, ruffling Woozi’s fur until he grows sick of it and ultimately pads away.

“What am I? A maid service?” Minghao mutters under his breath. Nevertheless, he rolls his sleeves up and sets to changing the litter. Taking apart the box, he leaves the lid on the side – planning to wash it later. Scooping out all the litter, he grabs the bottom of the box and heads towards the washroom. After rinsing out both parts and leaving them out to dry, Minghao grabs the spare bag of litter. Walking back into the main room, Minghao squats down, working to prepare the litter box. He looks up, spying Hoshi watching him from his perch beside the bookcase, and nods a greeting towards the frisky feline. Hoshi _meows_ back.

Soon enough, the litter box is fresh and replaced. Woozi comes around just at the end, winding in and out of Minghao’s legs in appreciation, before heading off to who knows where. Minghao manages to pat the cat’s behind in retaliation, before escaping to make himself food.

“What’s on the menu today Nonu?” Minghao asks, leaning on the counter. Nonu looks back up at him, laying – like he always is – on the kitchen island. His tail flicks once, twice, and then once more to acknowledge Minghao’s words, but he makes no effort to respond. “Spoiled,” Minghao complains, walking over to the fridge, “all of you. You’re all so spoiled and haughty. Won’t even reply to me huh? Making me feel and sound like a crazy cat man.”

No one responds. Minghao can only laugh pitifully.

Recovering from his bout of temporary insanity, Minghao grabs a couple eggs and other ingredients from the fridge. Ignoring the fact that it was well into the afternoon, Minghao prepares an omelette. For him, breakfast food is forever. Eternal. It’s always time for breakfast. Mingyu didn’t agree, but that didn’t stop Minghao from forcing the taller man to prepare him pancakes and bacon at one in the morning.

Getting the pan to sizzle, Minghao just starts cracking the eggs when Nonu jumps onto the counter beside the stove. Looking over at the curious cat, Minghao pushes his nose back – protecting the feline from the jumping drops of oil.

“Oh, so _now_ you’re curious huh?” Minghao asks, a bit cross. Nonu _meows_. He gives Minghao a look, as if daring him to say anything about it. “I feel like a servant,” Minghao says instead. Nonu blinks, as if agreeing with him. He then leans forward, wanting to see what Minghao is cooking. “Stop that!” Minghao laughs gently, pushing Nonu’s nose (and the cat himself) backwards again. “You’re going to get hurt.”

Nonu frowns – or at least, that’s what Minghao thinks he does. He settles down, tucking his paws under his body, and resigns himself to watching closely. As Minghao adds ham, cheese, and mushrooms to his omelette, he allows Nonu to smell each and every ingredient before putting them on top of the eggs. Once the food finishes cooking, Minghao grabs some left over rice from the fridge and quickly microwaves it. Sitting at the kitchen counter, he prepares to dig in, Nonu laying comfortably on his side beside Minghao’s plate.

“You can’t have any,” Minghao says, stuffing his face with omelette. It isn’t as good as anything Mingyu can make, but Minghao isn’t a bad cook either. “It’ll make you sick.” Nonu doesn’t answer. He shuffles closer though, sticking his nose into Minghao’s spoon as the Chinese male takes a bite of rice. Curiosity satisfied, Nonu stays by Minghao’s hand, allowing Minghao to pet him as he finishes his meal.

Or so Minghao thinks.

The minute he checks his phone, he feels Nonu surge forwards. Dropping the device in his lap, Minghao catches Nonu just before the cat could taste a bit of his omelette. Holding Nonu with two arms, Minghao raises him so they’re eye to eye. Nonu refuses to look at Minghao. Instead, the cat struggles and flails, trying his absolutely best to escape. Minghao holds tight.

“What did I say?” Minghao scolds, even though Nonu is looking at the floor with unrivalled interest. “I put milk in here! Too much of that and you could die!” Minghao’s eyebrows furrow. “Though cats have nine lives – so maybe you’d be okay?”

Nonu _meows_ , increasingly unhappy that he is being held captive. Minghao gently drops him on the floor and watches him stalk away.

Picking up his phone, Minghao places it on the table and sighs. It’s like he lived in a house full of four cats that can’t _wait_ to die. Oh, scratch that. Four cats and one human. Considering Mingyu’s ratio of near death accidents to well, not dying, he didn’t have a very good track record.

As Minghao continues his meal, he hears another soft _purr_. Looking up, he spies June jumping onto the table. The slender cat walks forwards, nose twitching as he smells the air, and he ends up crouched beside Minghao – just like Nonu had been. June looks up, eyes half closed in an attempt (Minghao thinks it’s a farce at least) to coerce him into giving June some food. Minghao stays strong. He has to. Otherwise society would crumble into despair and ruin.

“Not you too,” Minghao groans. June doesn’t respond. Not verbally at least. Instead, Minghao sees him gather his feet underneath him, haunches wiggling purposefully.

This time, Minghao is prepared.

June dashes forwards, attempting to steal a piece of, well, anything he could get his mouth on. Rice, egg, ham – it didn’t matter. Unfortunately for him, Minghao catches him just as he takes his first step forwards. He doesn’t even breach the perimeter of the Omelette Fortress. June whines, distress evident, but Minghao holds strong. If he could resist one cat, he could resist two.

“No,” Minghao says, flipping June over and placing him on his lap. June wriggles around, back digging into Minghao’s thighs. Minghao pokes his nose. “No,” he says again, just to emphasise his point. June stops moving, curling his spine to look up at Minghao. There’s a quizzical expression on his face, so Minghao repeats his words one more time, “no.”

Resigned to his fate, Junhui wiggles into a sitting position and turns himself into Minghao’s personal blanket instead. Minghao assumes he’s probably hoping to catch crumbs, but unluckily for him, Minghao is a neat, clean eater. Not like Mingyu. Or Soonyoung for that matter. Name a food, and Soonyoung could get crumbs on himself. Even for soup. Or salad. It was a grade A phenomenon.

Minghao goes back to eating, ignoring the meaningful looks June sends his way. Just as he’s about to finish, he hears tiny footsteps. Looking up, Minghao watches as Woozi makes his way to the kitchen, as if on a mission. It takes him a bit, with his smaller legs and frame, but Woozi manages to climb onto the table – just like all the other cats. His presence excites June, and the lap cat hastily jumps out of Minghao’s embrace (tail flicking right into Minghao’s mouth, thanks). Rushing over, June _meows_ a greeting, to which Woozi silently reciprocates.

“Hello to you too,” Minghao nods at Woozi, watching as June winds his tail all over Woozi’s. June had the longest tail, Nonu had the longest body, Woozi had the shortest legs, and Hoshi… Hoshi couldn’t even be categorized. But alas, those were the main features that separated all of their cats. It’s something Minghao noticed once upon a time, and after disclosing the observation to Mingyu, the categorization had stuck. Not something Minghao is proud enough to tell his parents about, but it made him happy every time he points it out to a visitor.

Woozi, seemingly fed up with June’s overly affectionate welcome, jumps away from the cat. Instead, he pads over to Minghao’s plate. Minghao groans. He’s so close. Just two bites and he’d be done. But no, food attracts cats in this house just as much as they did flies. Minghao didn’t even know that cats liked food that much! He thought only dogs begged for scraps. Alas, he’s wrong.

“Please don’t take my food,” Minghao begs. “Not you too.” Woozi looks at him like he’s stupid. Minghao only feels mildly offended. Instead of answering (or acknowledging Minghao’s presence at all), Woozi turns to _meow_ once at June, and then hops off the table. Amazingly, June follows. Minghao watches as Woozi, followed by June, exit the kitchen area. Further into the hallway, Minghao can spy Hoshi joining the cat train.

“Bless be the feline that is Woozi,” Minghao practically sobs, finally finishing his food in peace. Scraping the last bits of egg into his mouth, Minghao quickly washes the dishes – not wanting to hear another lecture from Mingyu about cleanliness (“A clean home equals a clean heart Hao!”). After wiping down the counter, Minghao collapses onto the couch.

He checks the time on his phone. Twenty minutes or so until Mingyu comes home. He yawns. Stretching on the spot, Minghao makes himself comfortable. Might as well browse the internet or watch some TV while he waits for Mingyu. Reaching for the remote, Minghao tunes in to some rerun of a variety show Mingyu likes. Something about celebrity dads taking care of their kids. Minghao didn’t know, he just watches it because the little kids make Mingyu happy.

Grabbing a blanket from the foot of the couch, Minghao wraps it around himself and settles in. He’s feeling tired, both from eating and just in general (though he didn’t do anything that entitled sleepiness so far). Normally, Minghao is a very productive person. Even on his days off, he gets out of bed before ten and almost always finishes everything on his to-do list. Today though, he’s feeling lazy.

“Heh,” Minghao snorts to himself. “Feline lazy.” Maybe he’s been hanging out with Seokmin too much. Normally he wouldn’t be making such stupid puns. Then again, he’s almost lethargic now, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Feeling his eyelids close, Minghao yawns, and succumbs to slumber. He’d have all the time to go do productive things once Mingyu came back. For now, he’ll rest up.

**Author's Note:**

> I love... cats... and dogs... and animals... TT^TT Inspired because I watch too many [Cream Heroes](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmLiSrat4HW2k07ahKEJo4w) oopsies.
> 
> Reminder that you can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/alatenii) if you'd like!
> 
>   
> Hope you're smiling!  
> 
> 
>   
> ~ alateni  
> 


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